The Wolf Moon: Friends to Lovers Wolf Shifter Romance

Chapter 12

The fever set in only a few days before the full moon and with it came the fatigue. Soon after that, a dull ache began to pulse from the mark on my neck. My appetite became nonexistent, which as a person who deeply appreciated food was alarming in itself.

As time moved forward, I began to feel more and more aware of my own heartbeat. It throbbed in my fingertips, rushed blood loudly in my ears, and pushed painfully through the ache that was only growing with each breath. I’d never been sick before. It was one of the few blessings I’d received in life. While my little brother would shiver and whimper in the night, I was impervious to such times of weakness, until now.

If I was uncertain of Roman’s ability to empathize with my pain, the certainty came not long after I became unable to hide it myself. He looked paler each time I caught a glance of him, but also angrier. Soon, he refused to see me at all, either hiding out downstairs or at another house altogether. My only pleasure was that every heavy, painful thud of my heart echoed across my mark and to the bond connecting me to him. He would feel it to the end.

Despite trying to be brave myself, with time the fear only grew within me. My skin was damp with sweat and heated by the fever which licked at my flesh like an increasingly growing flame. Some would beg to find relief, to walk into the light or darkness that waited after this life, but I was fierce in my own fears. I didn’t want to die. I hadn’t wanted to die in the hunt, nor the challenge afterwards, and that sentiment only followed me through the pain the mark brought with it.

Time blurred. The sun rose and fell. The moon grew fuller among the stars.

And finally, I felt a slur in awareness. It was as if in a moment, time both went forward and back again. Sounds echoed around me before muting entirely. The pain was both intense and nonexistent. I was aware of my own heartbeat and also aware that it intended to stop.

I gasped, sitting up sharply in Roman’s bed. I panted heavily, my limbs trembling from weakness. It took me a moment to take in my surroundings; the dark of the room with only the moonlight shining in from an open window. I knew if I stayed where I was, I would die here in this same room. I wanted more than anything to go home.

I pushed myself from the bed, swaying as I stood on my own two feet. I absently reached for my neck, wincing as my fingers brushed against that cursed mark. I walked unsteadily towards the opened window, the cold air doing nothing to cool the heat of my skin. I reached for the window frame, looking up to the moon which shined a bright, full glow in the cloudy night sky. My body had been correct. It was the full moon. I wouldn’t last the night.

I wanted to go home.

I flung my leg over the window ledge, climbing from the room as I had done before. Only as I tried to lower myself down the side of the building, my arms shook with fatigue and my lungs burned from the strain. I made it down only halfway before my hands faltered and my world spun around me unhelpfully. I suddenly was weightless just briefly before I hit the ground roughly, landing on my back and losing my breath momentarily.

My vision spun and blurred around me. I gasped for air, closing my eyes against the confusion, and after a moment it all finally steadied until I felt I could move again. I pushed myself back to my feet, glancing around deliriously before heading in the direction I hoped the temple was. I could find my village from there.

I walked with difficulty, holding my neck with pain as though I could contain it myself. I could see my breath in front of me, fogging the cold air thickly, and yet I could only feel the fever pulsing heavily throughout me. I continued until I found myself distracted by the sound of a beat that wasn’t my own heart.

In the night among the trees, I could hear a low rhythmic beat pulsing with determination. I hesitated, glancing in the direction of the noise and then in the direction of the temple. The temple seemed so much further away, miles or planets away, whereas the beat was growing louder in my skull, calling to me.

I followed it curiously, watching as the dark of the night became brighter through the trees; light flickered along the surface of the trees in the distance as the music grew louder. For a moment, I thought I must be dreaming. Or perhaps I had stepped into my own village without realizing it. My steps became faster, more desperate to reach the source of the beat.

Every full moon, there was a celebration in my village in honor of the shapeshifters, as an old tradition. Music was played, there was dancing, and it was one of the only nights children were allowed to be awake late into the night. It was the only way I suspected humans maintained a sense of happiness in a world where deity creatures threatened their existence annually.

I stepped through the trees and finally made it through to the source of the celebration. A large bonfire roared in the center of the clearing, catching my immediate attention. I stopped where I stood, lowering my hands and staring into the bright flames as though hypnotized. The music was loud around me, drowning out the beat of my own pained heartbeat.

There were shapes of bodies moving around the fire freely, their steps swift and dancing along the beats of the drums with ease. Hands reached for the air, reached to the moon, and my eyes were drawn from the flames to those bodies. I looked for my family, for the faces of those who raised and loved me. I listened for my brother’s cry, when he would see me before I saw him as always. I waited for someone to grab my wrist and pull me into the music.

But no faces belonged to my friends or family. No hands reached for me and only a deep, masculine voice called for me.

“Milena,” I heard Roman from the distance. I wasn’t home. I was still in the wolf’s den. And now I could see their eyes glowing in the dark, staring at me from all around; predators watching a weak prey that would be dead soon.

I turned and ran away from the deafening music and away from Roman. As I ran, it began to snow. Flakes fell from the roof of the trees, falling freely and melting on my heated skin. The fever was growing. I felt my flesh was burning and my lungs with it. My heart was loud in my head, easier to hear with the drums quieting into the distance.

Pain struck my mark causing me to yelp and fall to my knees briefly. I clutched at the bite with a whimper before shaking my head and pushing myself to my feet again. I ran further, weaving through the trees and breathing painstakingly through every pulse of pain. It was as though I thought I could outrun the curse entirely.

I came across a lake and stopped hesitantly. For a moment, I just stared at it, tilting my head as I looked at the surface. The snow fell quietly around me, hovering over the surface of the lake before dissolving without disturbing it. I could see the stars and moon reflected in the water and I looked up to see clouds covering the glow of the full moon mysteriously. I looked back down to the lake, feeling delirious.

Another sharp pain pulsed from the mark on my neck and I cried out, swaying briefly before allowing myself to crumble to the floor of the trees weakly. With my face pressed against the cold of the ground, I could watch the surface of the lake and for some reason this was just as hypnotizing as the flames of the bonfire not too far away.

I wanted to go home, but I knew it was impossible. I could fight monsters. I could stab at them, shoot arrows, and hurt them. But I couldn’t fight a curse. All I could do is tell myself to keep breathing as long as it would allow me to breathe.

Arms pulled me from the ground, twisting me onto my back and lifting me until I was cradled against the strong form of the King Alpha. My eyes lifted from the lake to his face, taking in his features blankly. His expression was stony, carefully composed despite the obvious displeasure in his eyes. I wanted to hate him. But instead, there was only the fear that echoed within me; that awareness that my end was extremely close. And in that awareness was the simple fact that I just couldn’t hate Roman.

“I want to go home,” I whimpered, sounding much like a child suddenly.

“Not possible,” Roman responded shortly, his tone pained against his will. He aimed to lift me, probably to take me back to his room, and I reached to grab onto his shirt desperately.

“I don’t want to go back,” I pleaded, gasping at the growing pain within me, “I want to stay out here. Please.” Roman hesitated, as though he didn’t want to grant me any reprieve in case it ended up being a snowball effect, but after a moment he settled into the ground with me, holding me against his better nature.

“As you wish,” He muttered lowly.

I sighed with relief, rolling my eyes from Roman to the sky above us and the trees around us. I reached for the ground, tracing my fingers weakly against the cold dirt and what brown grass remained in the winter weather.

“At what point did you stop loving this, the Earth around you?” I asked absently, watching the snow falling around us intensely as though afraid of closing my own eyes even for a moment. “Can you hear it? It’s like one long rhythm celebrating every minute of every day.”

“You’re delirious,” Roman responded slowly.

Another sharp pain pulsed through me and I tensed, clenching my mouth shut to prevent any cries from escaping me. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t want Roman to hear any signs of weakness from me in my last moments. I wasn’t trying to impress him. Perhaps I was trying to protect him for some reason. However, when this pain was followed by an immediate aftermath of another, my attempts failed and I cried out in agony.

I clung to Roman, whimpering as the pain dulled only briefly.

“Will you take me home?” I asked senselessly.

“Not possible,” Roman grunted, repeating his previous sentiment with difficulty.

“Afterwards. Will you take me after I’m gone? My family-” I inhaled sharply at another pulse of pain, my muscles tensing as though trying to absorb some of the shock throughout me. Roman didn’t answer my request, though I felt it probably would be the same answer. It wouldn’t matter, anyways.

“You can leave me here,” I gasped with difficulty, “You don’t have to stay.”

“Shut up, Milena,” Roman finally growled angrily. His grip tightened and I whimpered, my skin already sensitive from the heat. He turned his glare from me to the lake, where the moon shined oddly along the service like the eye of the Goddesses themselves, watching and judging his every move.

Roman abruptly shifted me, lifting me up until I was face to face with him. He gripped my upper arms roughly, shaking me just enough to get my attention as my vision blurred around me. I blinked forcefully, taking in his features in my state of delirium.

“Give me one reason,” He said dangerously, obviously frustrated. “One reason why I should let you live tonight, Mila.” The pain had begun to dull and my mind was growing fuzzier by the minute. His request made no sense to me. I only stared into his steely eyes, hypnotized by them as though they were as mesmerizing as the flames of the bonfire.

With a hint of insanity, I leaned forward slowly, as though approaching an entirely different fire. Roman froze altogether and he remained unmoved as I bravely brushed my lips over his briefly. I’d never kissed a man before. It was like a cold heat thrilled through me, unlike any feeling I had felt before. And even if death was what drove me to it, I couldn’t find it in myself to be embarrassed.

Roman huffed as I pulled away, obvious frustration coating his features.

“Shift,” He demanded me abruptly. I closed my eyes briefly, exhausted, and he tightened his grip enough to make me yelp. His power rose from within him, reaching out to me firmly before he repeated that familiar demand, “Stop fighting me and shift, damn it.”

“I’m not a wolf,” I sharply responded, strength suddenly growing in my voice.

“You can deny it all you want, but I know a wolf when I see one,” Roman antagonized me. I was suddenly becoming irritated and much more aware. His familiar power pushed against me, demanding and demanding that same request. “Now shift, Mila.”

“I can’t,” I said, but whimpered as that same sensation within me began to stir in response. I could feel it under my skin, brushing against me like cold liquid. It was unnatural. The mark on my neck burned painfully and I tried to reach for it, trying to distract myself from those strange feelings, but Roman pulled my hand down firmly.

“Shift,” He repeated with a growl, anger pulsing through his demand dangerously. My heart leaped to my throat when I felt that power try to reach beyond my skin. The forest became loud around me, a roaring of noise in what was only silent before. I was quite aware of how close Roman was to me and his scent was purely intoxicating. I leaned forward to breathe him in and his chest rumbled with frustration as he held me back. “Shift, Mila. You have to shift.”

“I can’t,” I cried out just before yelping when my hands began to change in front of me. It was like ice around fire, pushing back the fever within me. My fingernails formed into hesitant claws and back, as though it were just a trick of the eye. I cried out in fear. “My hands! What-”

“Shift,” Roman pushed harder, his power tearing around me forcefully. My hands deformed, claws forming unnaturally and with it my mouth began to change as well. My teeth felt strange in my mouth, sharper and stronger. Roman moved me in his grip, pulling me to him sharply. “Now’s your chance, Mila.”

I panted uncertainly, staring into his eyes with raw fear.

“My chance for what?” I asked, panicked.

“Revenge,” He answered simply, turning his head to bare his throat to me in the most uncharacteristic way. For a moment, I stared at his throat with surprise. And then I understood what he meant. He wanted me to mark him as he had marked me. Only I was still stuck on the idea that I wasn’t one of them.

As I looked at that curve of his shoulder, the power within me stirred excitedly. His scent was far too intoxicating to ignore and the power was far too demanding. It was clear what I was supposed to do if I wanted to live.

I took a sharp breath and then I leaned forward uncertainly. With hesitation, my lips hovered over his shoulder, brushing over his skin carefully until his breath hitched with surprise. I liked the sound, oddly enough, but I didn’t have it in me to bite down. I leaned away, closing my eyes firmly.

“I can’t,” I repeated, shaking my head. “I can’t bite you. The thought of it…” Abrupt pain tore through me and I cried out as Roman tensed against me in response. His hands suddenly gripped my face firmly and I opened my eyes wide to face him.

“For once, stop fighting,” Roman insisted and it took me only a moment to realize he was the one pleading me. An injury to me was an injury to him. He didn’t like the feel of death despite the fact that it was what he so desperately wanted for himself. I closed my eyes again, breathing as though I was about to dive into water, and then I pushed myself forward.

I struck his shoulder, biting down as hard as I could manage in my state. The response was immediate. It was as though the power within me stretched beyond my skin, an animal reaching out to that beast within Roman. With my mark, the mate bond was completed. I felt very much molded into him and just as quickly I was myself again.

I released Roman far quicker than he had released me. I fell to the ground and crawled back, the taste of his blood in my mouth. Roman didn’t move. He remained crouched on the ground, panting heavily in response to the mark. I felt the fever fade within me rapidly, being replaced by a different, more pleasurable fever.

As I lay on the ground, I felt something stirring within me dangerously. My skin crawled with it. It throbbed in my heart and burned in my veins. It wasn’t painful, but at the same time it felt unnatural. I rolled onto my knees and pushed myself to my feet, looking at my hands which trembled before me.

“Mila,” Roman growled, obviously struggling with his own beast. I glanced at him, watching as his features shifted just briefly before he smothered them back into human form with difficulty. My breath hitched in my throat and in a sudden panic, I did what I tend to do best.

I ran.